Catholics, Episcopalians to find common ground in Ecumenical Evensong

At Pentecost, people from every nation under heaven who were in Jerusalem gathered to hear the Apostles, touched by the Holy Spirit, preach to them, each hearing in their own tongue.

“Pentecost is the time where there was great unity that emerged out of diversity,” said Father Clint Wilson, the associate rector at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Nashville. “Think of the account of the tower of Babel in the Old Testament. … Pentecost is the opposite of that. … It’s the unifying of people in prayer and sent out in mission.

“That’s what we’re trying to do,” said Father Wilson, who is organizing a Pentecost service co-sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nashville.

The service, “Common Prayer + Common Mission: Ecumenical Evensong for Fostering Unity,” will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday, June 4, the Feast of Pentecost, at St. George’s. It is open to everyone in both dioceses and will be followed by a barbecue reception to raise funds for America’s Kids Belong, an organization that helps to place foster children.

The inspiration for the Ecumenical Evensong came from a Vespers Service at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome hosted by Pope Francis for Anglican and Catholic bishops from around the world who were commissioned to pursue unity in common prayer and common mission. Father Wilson attended as an observer with his bishop, Bishop John Bauerschmidt.

“We’re taking our lead from Pope Francis” and Archbishop of Cantebury Justin Welby, the senior bishop of the Church of England, who organized the joint Vespers Service in Rome, Father Wilson said. “Our healing comes from one another as we meet Christ in one another,” he said. “We need one another.”

When Father Wilson approached Bishop David Choby about the idea of a joint prayer service, the bishop “was warm to the idea and wanted to do it,” Father Wilson said.

Because Bishop Choby is still recovering from surgery, he asked Father Steven Gideon, pastor of St. John Vianney Church in Gallatin and a former Episcopal priest, to represent the bishop at the Ecumenical Evensong.

The Evensong is the Anglican version of the Catholic Vespers service and includes sung evening prayers, many of which are shared by both faith traditions and will be familiar to Catholics, Father Wilson said. Bishop Bauerschmidt and Father Gideon will preach homilies, and the Schola of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia and the St. George’s Choir will sing the prayers. “It’s really beautiful,” Father Wilson said.

After the two faith traditions pray together, they will join their efforts in service through the barbecue reception for America’s Kids Belong. “So we’re joined together in both prayer and in mission,” Father Wilson said.

As the Ecumenical Officer of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee, Father Wilson hopes the Ecumenical Evensong to Foster Unity will lead to more opportunities for common prayer and mission between the two dioceses. “It’s an opportunity for the church to model a different way,” he said. “To recognize we have more in common than we have that divides us.”

Although the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church have been divided since the 1500s, the Second Vatican Council launched a new era of ecumenism between the Catholic Church and all other faith traditions, Father Wilson noted.

The Vatican II document the Decree on Ecumenism begins, “The restoration of unity among all Christians is one of the principal concerns of the Second Vatican Council.”

“There’s a lot of fruit that’s come out of that in the last 50 years,” Father Wilson said. Catholics and Anglicans have agreed to recognize each other’s baptisms, and the martyrs of both churches are recognized by the other, he said. The two churches even issued a joint document on justification, one of the major points of difference that led to the Protestant Reformation and the split of the Western Christian churches.

“It’s opened up many avenues of dialogue and healing,” Father Wilson said of Vatican II.

Although differences remain, he said, “We can pray together. We can serve the poor together. We can be the Body of Christ to some degree.”

The Ecumenical Evensong is free and open to everyone, but registration is required for the barbecue reception to follow so organizers can have enough food on hand. Tickets are $10 per person and $25 per family. To register, search for Common Prayer Common Mission event at
www.eventbrite.com.